mother medicine; they couldn’t get too close to her, or they might get sick, too. But Dusty could see her mother was cold, and that made the old female’s body even weaker.

Dusty felt sick at the thought of her mother dying before her very eyes.

She looked around. Newspapers. That could work.

She grabbed one and shook it out, laying it across her mother’s back. Dawn, which was her mother’s name, huddled under the sheets of black and white with a trembling sigh. Ignoring her own welfare, Dusty curled up next to her mother and pressed up against her side, hoping heat would make it through the paper to Dawn. Danni warily lay down on the other side, and the three stayed like that for a long time.

Dusty hoped her mother’s owner would let her mother in tomorrow. It was cruel to leave a dog out in the cold. And, it felt weird to Dusty for the child to be taking care of the parent.

The mail team was the last thing on her mind…

“For the last time, Kirby,” Ralph said impatiently. It was the next morning, and all the mail dogs except Dusty were harnessed and ready to go. Dusty was nowhere in sight. “You are not going to be the lead dog!”

“Maybe not on this run,” Kirby said stiffly, regretting his lost bet with Kodi, “But no offence, Kodi, you’ve been slowing us down for awhile now. I think it’s time a new dog took the lead.”

“Oh yeah?” Kodi said, raising one eyebrow, “I don’t remember it being me who was slowing the team down. I wasn’t the one who slipped on the ice, fell on his huge stomach, and had to be dragged along for half a mile before he could get up!”

“One mistake,” Kirby barked, “Yeah, alright, I slipped a few days ago. So you’re saying because of one stupid mistake, I’ll never be lead dog?”

“Well, come to think of it, there was that other incident-” Kodi started.

“Look, Kirby,” Ralph said, “Kodi’s got it covered. That’s why he’s lead dog in the first place! He’s good at leading. And trust me, if you even had a chance of becoming lead dog, I’d eat this harness!” He closed his mouth around it to demonstrate.

“That’s not much of a statement, considering you’ll eat anything,” Kirby snapped.

Kodi had to bite back a laugh at the surprised expression on Ralph’s face. Kirby was hardly ever quick on the comebacks in the morning, and he rarely ever meant to make his comments really hurt. But he had meant that one.

“You’re not exactly a Slim Qwik ad yourself,” Ralph muttered just as the musher trudged out of the post office and looked worriedly at the empty space in the harness.

“Where in the world is Dusty?” he griped, “We can’t leave with only six dogs.” He shook his head, but his face brightened when he saw Dusty’s adult owners walking with Dusty in tow, on a leash. “Thank God you’re here! I was beginning to think we would have to call in a replacement for her.”

“We’re sorry,” the man of the house answered, “Dusty ran off this morning, and it took us forever just to find her strolling the streets like she owned this town. We might have to build a fence to keep her in, or keep her on the leash at night. Something. But it won’t happen again!” He rather forcefully unclipped Dusty’s leash and pushed her into the harness, buckling her in.

“Sorry I’m late, guys,” Dusty muttered, “There were a few…problems I had to take care of.”

“What happened, Dusty?” Kodi asked with concern.

Dusty opened her mouth to tell him, but then she looked at Ralph and Kirby and thought better of it. Yes, they were her friends, but Kodi was the only one she felt comfortable talking about her mom with. Kirby and Ralph didn’t need to know. She could just tell Kodi later. “Nothing,” she said nonchalantly, shrugging, “I felt like annoying my owners. Are we going to get moving or what?”

Kodi, Kirby, and Ralph all looked at each other, but when Kirby opened his mouth to ask, Ralph kicked him.

“Yeah,” Ralph said, “We’re already behind. Let’s go!”

The musher unknowingly repeated what Ralph said as he jumped onto the runners. With a firm “Mush!” the team was off, building up speed as they charged on.

Dusty thought about her decision to leave Danni to take care of their mother. She hoped he would be all right. She would have stayed with him, but there wasn’t much she could do. And she couldn’t let the team down. She prayed her mother’s owner would get over his annoyance and take care of Dawn, fast. Her mother was getting old, and she wouldn’t last long even with Danni watching over her.

Kodi wished he could turn around and look at Dusty’s face to see if he could figure out what was wrong. He hoped she would tell him later, because right now it was bugging him insistently. He tried to shake it off, and instead thought about the trail ahead. He felt the quiet invade as the team slid out of the town and into the whiteness spreading on into the distance. The familiar shushing of the runners and the slight pants of the dogs beat to an easy rhythm in Kodi’s ears. His paws skimmed over the snow, and he couldn’t help grinning to himself. This, running, was freedom. This was the heartbeat of the Northern homeland.

“Gee!” the musher shouted, and Kodi turned accordingly, feeling the change flow through the rest of the team. They were making acceptable time, despite the delay. At this rate, they’d be at the next town just after sundown.

The night sky was black, as if the day’s sun had scorched it into a burnt crust over the Earth. All of Nome’s mail dogs had been unharnessed, checked for injuries, given food, and found rest in the barn of a kind resident of the town.

Kodi felt that pleasant ache in his muscles every time he stepped, that ache he got after every good run. He peeked out the barn door at the musher, who checked all the supplies in the sled and the condition of the harness before banging through the door of the boardinghouse across the street.

An impatient sigh turned Kodi around to see Dusty rustling restlessly around in the straw. She sighed again, but when she saw Kodi watching her she sat up.

“Dusty, what’s the matter?” Kodi asked, coming over to sit beside her, “You’ve been acting weird all day. What’s up?”

“More than the ceiling, that’s what’s up,” Dusty growled, flicking the straw around with her paws.

Kodi waited expectantly.

Dusty looked over her shoulder to check that the other mail dogs were asleep, checked again, then sighed. “Oh, Kodi…It’s my mom.”

“What about her?”

“She’s sick,” Dusty nearly whispered, refusing to look Kodi in the eye, “Her owner left her out in the cold last night because…well, frankly, she’s been seeing too many guys.”

Kodi opened his mouth to say something, but couldn’t find the right words. He studied his paws and tried to think of something intelligent to say. “Uh huh.” He almost smacked himself over the head. Oh, yeah. That sounded real intelligent.

“Kodi, you know this is kind of a secret?” Dusty said, “No one but you knows about my mom and her…affairs.” Her eyes looked up at him almost fearfully. He felt like he should look away, but he couldn’t. They were entrancing, hypnotizing, those soft pools of the warmest, deepest blue…How could he resist those eyes?

“You can trust me,” he reassured her.

Dusty’s grateful smile made the lantern light render useless. “I know,” she murmured, and leaned forward to hug him.

Kodi caught his breath as the images exploded into his head once again, but to ignore them he hugged Dusty back.

Of course, that only made them worse.

He couldn’t take it anymore. He didn’t even stop to consider whether this was the right time to ask. Kodi pulled back and looked into Dusty’s face, forcing up the words even as another part of him tried to crush them down.

“Kodi?” Dusty said, alarmed.

“Dusty,” Kodi said in a rush, before he lost his nerve, “I-I like you a lot, Dusty. Will you…” His throat was closing up. Oh, man. He could feel his face flame. “Will you go out with me?” he whispered hoarsely.

Dusty took a step back in shock. Her foot slipped, and she tumbled downwards. She picked herself up, though, and stood there gaping at him. “What? No!”

Kodi looked up in surprise, which quickly turned to hurt. That wasn’t the kind of reaction he had expected! And it hurt. Bad.

“I mean…” Dusty spluttered helplessly, “No, Kodi, don’t take it like that. I meant…I didn’t mean…Oh, heck, did you just ASK ME OUT??”

Kodi longed to close his eyes and somehow be transported home, away from this place where he had just made a complete fool of himself. “Yes,” he mumbled miserably, “I’m sorry, but…I don’t know how it happened, but I really do like you, Dusty. I want to be more than just friends.” A flicker in Dusty’s eyes told him everything. “No, it won’t be like one of your mom’s affairs, I promise. You can trust me, remember?”

“I know that, but this is one heck of a responsibility, Kodiak,” Dusty told him coldly, “…I’ll think about it.” She slid down in the straw and closed her eyes tight.

Kodi knew she